About our Holidays

Arrangements

UK holidays – Arrival & Departure details

Getting away for a break!The first date given for a holiday is the day you arrive. We don’t walk on that day, except perhaps for an evening stroll to get to know each other. You can usually get into your room from 2pm. Your guide will arrive by 5pm and will leave a message at reception to say where she’ll be at that time. Dinner is generally at 7pm – so do tell us if you think you will be late in case we can hold your meal. The walks start at a convenient time after breakfast each day. Their length depends on the grade and sometimes we might change a walk because of the weather. The walk on the last day is shorter, and we are generally back by 2pm for trains from 3pm. However, on weekend breaks and treks – especially if intermediate and high level – we are generally not back till 3pm for trains from 4pm. When booking a weekend or a trek, please tell us if you will need to leave earlier than this.

Accommodation

Lovely places to stay!The accommodation we book for the holidays varies hugely – from charming small hotels and inns, to moderately priced guesthouses, and ideally-located hostels and mountain refuges. The prices are based on you sharing a room with another member of the group unless it says otherwise. Singles with or without a supplement are often available if you book early. All supplements are given as a figure per night. In hostels and refuges you mostly sleep in bunk beds sharing a dormitory with other members of the group. Help yourself to a free welcome cuppa from the Member’s Kitchen when you arrive! For much more accommodation information see our Accommodation page

Frequent Walker Miles!

It’s very gratifying how many women return for more WalkingWomen holidays after their first experience. So we’ve introduced ‘Frequent Walker Miles’ as a way of giving something back to you. This means that if you come on 3 holidays in a calendar year, we’ll take £20 pounds off the 3rd one – and again off the 6th!

Trekking

Walking to a new place each day.If ‘trekking’ to you means days of slogging with the kitchen sink on your back – forget it! We use the words ‘Trekking’ or ‘Trek’ to refer to holidays that involve walking to a new place most days, allowing us to get off the beaten track and reach more remote places like the stunning Western Lakes or a high Alpine valley. We transport the luggage by taxi or porters wherever possible, and on trips where this is not possible we clarify in the holiday description the number of days you will carry extra gear. A trekking day can sometimes be a little longer than a day walk of the same grade and there isn’t the same flexibility to take a day off as with other holidays, so please choose the grade with special care. The reward is the satisfaction of having walked there and seeing a new valley come into view. If a UK trek is not circular we arrange transport back to the starting point or nearest station for free or for a shared charge (see the holiday description & travel directions).

Taking time out – other things to do

Whether you walk each day is up to you; it’s only tricky if you want to take time out on a trekking day! There are lots of other things to do – either for a day off or after walking. You might also want to walk on your own for a day, or sit under a tree to read, paint, or do nothing!

Travel directions

Travel directions and a list of what to bring will be sent to you with your confirmation of booking. You will also find a lot of useful information on the Travel & Gear page of this website. We confirm the booking after you have paid the deposit. If you would like to see travel directions before you book, just email us for a copy.

Dogs

WalkingWomen has been set up to cater for the needs and safety of women who want to walk. Assistance dogs (e.g ‘blind’ dog, ‘hearing’ dog etc) are permitted on all WW holidays and at all UK accommodations we use. Non-assistance dogs are allowed at some accommodations we use (see below), but will only be allowed to join walks if they are well behaved around people and sheep, are under control at all times, and are not likely to be experienced as threatening due to their size or breed. If the guide feels that your dog is endangering or annoying other women, you will be asked to make other arrangements even if it means that you cannot join the walk. For this reason, please consider carefully whether your dog is sufficiently well behaved and non-threatening to others before bringing him or her on a holiday – and please let us know beforehand.

Dogs are only permitted at the hotels we use in: Great Langdale, Derwent Water, and Lulworth Cove. Dogs are also exceptionally allowed at Glenthorne when we take the whole guest house for ourselves – e.g Christmas. (Accommodations often charge extra for cleaning).

Foreign Holidays – Flights, ATOL, transfers…

On most WW foreign holidays your guide will meet you at your departure airport if she is flying on the same flight, or look for her as you come into the Arrivals hall at your destination. We include the transfer to your accommodation on practically all foreign holidays. Please see your holiday details sheet for the time of this transfer and/or the flights that it meets.

The cost of your flight is not included in any holiday price. With the ever increasing availability of online flights, we believe it gives greater value and flexibility for you to buy your flight separately. We can, however, buy your flight on our agent’s ATOL licence for many holidays (Nepal, South Africa, La Gomera, & Crete), and for any other scheduled or charter flights that may be an option on some holidays. Our agent for long haul destinations (i.e Nepal & South Africa) usually only requests a deposit for your flight until 10 weeks before departure.

Buying your flight

WalkingWomen arranges the airport transfer to your destination on most foreign holidays to keep arrangements simple and affordable. If you are buying your own flight, please first check your holiday information sheet to see which flight/s will suit this transfer in each direction, (or for details of our transfer time). Your guide will usually be travelling on this flight or she will meet you as you come through from Baggage Reclaim at your destination. WalkingWomen is not responsible for your transfer if you arrive at a different time or on a different flight than the one we have detailed. Most of our holidays are based at some distance from the airport, and it will often be difficult or expensive for you to arrange your own transfer. Please contact the WW office before buying a different flight from the one/s given on your Holiday Information Sheet.

Insurance essential on foreign holidays

If you book a foreign holiday with WalkingWomen it is essential that you have sickness and injury insurance. Insurance against your having to cancel is highly recommended on ALL holidays.

If you want very competitive annual insurance, try Essential Travel on 0845 803 5434 or Columbus Direct Insurance on 0870 033 9988 . Columbus will also take an additional 10% off is you say you’re booking with WalkingWomen. Age Concern (0845 600 3348) is the most competitive insurance we’ve found if you are over 65 years. If you hear of a direct insurance company offering better rates, please do let us know!

Insurance on UK holidays?

If you are taken ill at the last minute and cannot come on holiday, you might also be very glad to have cancellation insurance in place. Many companies offer very competitive rates for short breaks, or for an annual travel insurance policy that covers all your holidays over the year. Try Essential Travel Insurance or Columbus Direct Insurance above.

We use Cookies - By continuing to use this site, or closing this banner this you agree to our privacy policy

Accept

x

You currently have javascript disabled. This site needs javascript enabled in order for it to run correctly. Some functions of the site may not be useable or the site may not look correct until you enable javascript. Please enable javascript in your web broswer.